US Congress creates bipartisan task force to probe Trump assassination bid

The US House of Representatives has announced the creation of a 13-member bipartisan congressional task force on the attempted assassination of former president and Republican Party presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Trump, 78, survived the attempt on his life on July 13 when a 20-year-old shooter fired multiple shots at him at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, injuring his right ear. The shooting left one person attending the rally dead and two others in serious condition.

The suspected shooter was shot and killed by a member of the Secret Service.

We have the utmost confidence in this bipartisan group of steady, highly qualified and capable Members of Congress to move quickly to find the facts, ensure accountability, and help make certain such failures never happen again, said House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Monday.

The task force has been formed to understand what went wrong on the day of the attempted assassination, to ensure accountability and to prevent such an agency failure from happening again. It will make recommendations for reform to the relevant government agencies and recommend any necessary legislation to implement the reforms.

Congressman Mike Kelly from Pennsylvania's 16th District, who resides in his hometown of Butler, the location of the assassination attempt, is the chairman of the task force.

Kelly has longstanding ties to the local law enforcement community and is the author of the resolution creating the task force.

House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green said establishing this task force is a critical step in addressing this failure and ensuring that the American people get the answers they deserve.

DHS (Department of Homeland Security) and the Secret Service's utter failure to safeguard a former president and current candidate for our nation's highest office was unacceptable from the start, and it grows more troubling with each new report and effort by the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration to stonewall congressional oversight, he said.

The task force comprises of Republican members Mark Green, David Joyce, Laurel Lee, Michael Waltz, Clay Higgins and Pat Fallon.

The Democratic members are Jason Crow, Lou Correa, Madeleine Dean, Chrissy Houlahan, Glenn Ivey, and Jared Moskowitz.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the assassination attempt has exposed more than just the continued threat of gun violence in America. It has also revealed unacceptable security failures in the operations of the United States Secret Service, he said.

Despite the implementation of a security plan to secure the rally site on July 13, the shooter involved was able to fly a drone outside of the security perimeter for 11 minutes," Durbin said.

"His suspicious activity was reported twice, and he was spotted on the roof of a building prior to taking his first shot yet his violent plan continued unimpeded, and he was able to fire eight shots before a Secret Service countersniper killed him, he said.

Durbin also posed many questions which, he said, the American public deserves answers to.

"What organisational and on-the-ground changes has the Secret Service implemented since this occurred to ensure better security in the future?" he asked.

He also questioned which of those changes were in place in time for the Republican National Convention and are still in the process of being implemented for future events, such as the Democratic National Convention next month.

Trump has agreed to be interviewed by the FBI as part of an investigation into his attempted assassination, a special agent said on Monday in disclosing how the gunman prior to the shooting had researched mass attacks and explosive devices.

The expected interview is part of the FBI's standard protocol to speak with victims during the course of their criminal investigations.